NASA – Page 49 – Spaceflight Now

Military officials committed to keeping Cape Canaveral open for launches

March 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

The military-run Eastern Range at Cape Canaveral remains ready to support upcoming launches — including an Atlas 5 flight Thursday — amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday.

NASA confirms work stoppage on James Webb Space Telescope

March 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman are “suspending integration and testing operations” on the James Webb Space Telescope in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a decision that officials said is likely to delay the mission’s scheduled launch date in March 2021.

Astronaut’s family won’t attend launch next month due to coronavirus threat

March 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy’s family will be watching remotely from halfway around the world when he blasts off April 9 from Kazakhstan to begin a six-month expedition on the International Space Station.

Facing pandemic, NASA shutters rocket factory, halts SLS and Orion testing

March 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday that work on the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule at facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi is being halted due to the spreading coronavirus pandemic, a stoppage that could force further delays on the already behind-schedule and over-budget programs. Meanwhile, NASA officials are making plans to continue working on the agency’s next Mars rover to keep it on schedule for launch later this year, even if the virus forces further closures.

Apollo astronaut Al Worden dies at 88

March 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

Former astronaut Al Worden, who orbited the moon and performed the first spacewalk in deep space in 1971, died Wednesday in Texas. He was 88.

NASA institutes mandatory agency-wide telework policy

March 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

All NASA centers and facilities will begin a mandatory telework policy for agency and contractor employees effective immediately, except for “mission-essential” personnel, to combat the threat from the coronavirus pandemic, officials announced Tuesday.

SpaceX selected to launch Intelsat telecom satellite, NASA pollution monitor

March 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch an Intelsat communications satellite with a NASA-funded air pollution monitor to be positioned over the Americas in 2022, officials announced Tuesday.

NASA no longer counting on Gateway for 2024 moon landing

March 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA is modifying plans to send astronauts back to the moon in 2024 by taking the Gateway — a mini-space station to be assembled in lunar orbit — out of the critical path in favor of a simplified architecture, according to the agency’s chief of human spaceflight.

NASA to consider WFIRST launch options after mission passes key review

March 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA expects to select a launch vehicle next year to carry the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope — a multibillion-dollar flagship astrophysics observatory targeted for cancellation by the Trump administration — into space in 2025 after the mission passed a key review last month, agency officials said.

NASA inspector general says SLS moon rocket costs continue to climb

March 10, 2020 William Harwood

The powerful Space Launch System rocket being built for NASA’s Artemis moon program by Boeing, using solid-propellant boosters from Northrop Grumman and main engines from Aerojet Rocketdyne, will have cost more than $18 billion by the time it blasts off on its maiden flight in 2021, NASA’s Office of Inspector General reported Tuesday.